Bonds’ lawyers had asked for a new trial on the charge or an acquittal, but U.S. District Judge Susan Illston refused Friday to overturn the only unanimous decision reached by the jury in her courtroom four months ago. Jurors failed to reach a verdict on three counts charging Bonds with making false statements to a grand jury in 2003. Prosecutors have yet to say whether they plan to retry him on those three counts.

According to The Associated Press, the next step for Bonds is to appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could leave things without a resolution until 2013. Bonds does have a strong case against the charge. As our own Craig Calcaterra broke it down this morning:

You’ll recall that the primary basis for Bonds’ motion was that one cannot or at least should not be convicted of obstruction of justice on the basis of giving “evasive testimony” when in fact he actually answered the question. And Bonds did — after a brief, meaningless digression — answer the question at issue with a straight “no” answer. And answering the question aside, the law in this area makes it clear: the burden is on the prosecutor to direct a less-than-cooperative witness to answer a question, not to simply let him ramble, throw his hands up in the air and cry “obstruction!” or “perjury!”

Sentencing has yet to be determined, but the common belief is that Bonds could spend anywhere from 3-6 months in jail if the conviction is upheld.

You heard of jury nullification. O.J. Simpson is a good example. Well there is the reverse. Bonds admitted he took steroids and he was proud of it. And it appears the jury wanted to get him on something and they took something and used it. It is only going to cost him a year or two of bad sleep and maybe a million or so dollars in legal fees, that he can well afford, and he will not get in as an honoree in the Hall of Fame. So maybe it was worth it.

Kevin S. - Aug 28, 2011 at 7:52 PM

Yeah, that’s all kinds of wrong. Bonds admitted he took two substances prosecutors claimed were performance-enhancing drugs. The idea that he proudly proclaimed he took steroids is a figment of your twisted imagination, and the fact that you think a man losing a year or two of his freedom because he was convicted of not giving a clear answer to a question he actually gave a clear answer to is okay is profoundly disturbing.

chrisny3 - Aug 30, 2011 at 8:59 PM

“…and the fact that you think a man losing a year or two of his freedom because he was convicted of not giving a clear answer to a question he actually gave a clear answer to is okay is profoundly disturbing.”

What’s profoundly disturbing is the idea that some of you think it’s OK to go before a grand jury, take the oath, and then lie or otherwise obstruct justice by stonewalling the questioner. Eventually giving a clear answer does not excuse the tremendous amount of BSing Bonds did prior to being pushed into giving an answer. That’s like saying someone who tries to evade the police in a car chase should be let off the hook if he eventually gives himself up. And, no, I’m not equating Bonds’ crime with the type that most often leads to car chases. I’m just pointing out how illogical the thinking of some Bonds’ apologists is.

There must be some punishment for all these players who CHEATED. YES CHEATED. The players who played before these cheaters didn’t use steroids and their records are real and honest. You have to realize that not only did they cheat the record book, but in this case Bonds cheated the pitchers who pitched against him. He had an unfair chemical advantage. Also his improved and longer hitting ability made the other athletes who hit look bad.
Also and I am 100% against these HUGE professional salaries, he pumped up to get more money. If he was not on steroids, it would be natural to see, with age, a decrease in his abilities. Because he was juiced up, he was paid more. Of course when one messes around with steroids over a long period of time, they will affect the body and the heart. Therefore Bonds will have a shorter life and a life with more illnesses. But the fact is that he CHEATED as did many other players. I read something the other day that said that around 2000 75% of the Yankees used steroids. I don’t know but I would not be surprised. Maybe his shorter life will be his pay back.

There are so many false premises in this post I almost don’t know where to being.

First, to the extent that punishment is necessary, the criminal sanction is not appropriate. The criminal sanction is the most awesome power a civil society can yield. Not only does a felony conviction affect the so-called offender’s liberty, but it affects his later right to vote, to hold public office, to serve on a jury, and to get a firearm. Is this an appropriate sanction for taking some drugs that enhance performance during a ball game (i.e., entertainment)?

Second, the pitchers were juicing too. Don’t give me this “Bonds cheated the pitchers who pitched against him” nonsense.

Third, and most controversially, there is a major element of racism in this entire thing. I remember the 2000 World Series very clearly. Roger Clemens threw a broken bat at Mike Piazza, and I turned to my father and said — Clemens is doping. Why did I say that? Because a guy went from good to unbeatable at the tail end of his career. And because he threw a broken bat at another player! Of course, nobody said anything about what Clemens — a white good old boy from Texas — was doing until the Mitchell report issued. Bonds was vilified as soon as it became clear he was going to break Mark McGuire’s home run record. (BTW, can you imagine how many home runs Bonds would have hit had they just pitched to him?) Where were the people calling for Clemens’ head after the Mitchell report issued? I don’t recall nearly as much ink spilled about Clemens as has been spilled about Bonds.

Fourth, you post reads almost like you’re happy that steroids users will have a shorter life. Is your premise that someone cheated at a game (which is supposed to be entertainment), therefore they deserve to die early? Because that’s pretty cold blooded. Where do you want to draw the line? If someone does 75 is a 65 mph zone, do they deserve a shorter life? What about if they take a penny but do not later leave a penny? Consider seeking help.

Finally, and this is just a stylist thing, capitalizing letters doesn’t really add emphasis. It only makes your post more difficult to read. There is a short, easily accessible article on typography here You’ll notice that professional writers eschew the all caps for italics and bolded text. I would urge you to follow suit.

ftbramwell Name one false premise anywhere in what I wrote. Bonds CHEATED. And capitalizing is my style so go to hell on your self righteousness manner of demeaning. It doesn’t have to be illegal to be cheating. Every time Bonds juiced up and went up against pitchers and compared his stats against hitters who didn’t juice up, he cheated. Pure and simple fact of the matter it was. At that time it was not a criminal case and he couldn’t be put in jail, but he cheated.
I FEEL that is the way you wanted to see the game played. You wanted some players to CHEAT to get the big numbers, get the big pay checks and get the big headlines.
Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Elston Howard, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris didn’t use chemicals and they EARNED their way into the Hall of Fame. And I saw all them play.
You are so full of bulls**t, your eyes should be brown! Of course punishment is necessary. Baseball is a game of rules and morals. It is not illegal to throw at a player’s head but you will get someone on your team bashed if a pitcher deliberately throws at the head of another player. Ty Cobb used metal spikes and he would sharpen them with a file. He would do it sitting on the bench in full view of the opposing players. It was not illegal and the other team found a way to get back at Cobb’s team if he spiked someone, sliding in.
Are you saying that Bonds should be locked up for using steroids. I go along with that.
What an idiot you are. Bonds batted against juiced pitchers and non juiced pitchers. What do you want that all the players, pitchers and hitters should all be juiced to even the playing field? You go to the race track and place a $1000 bet on a horse and find out later the winner was juiced and your horse came in second, you can’t go back and collect on the disqualification. Jesus what an idiot you are! Same thing with fighters. After the match, they have to give urine samples. You sound like a 10 year old!
Racism? Jackie Robinson, Elston Howard, Willie Mays were purple? They earned their place in the record book and the Hall of Fame as BASEBALL PLAYERS! Bonds discredited his race by using drugs. He will never stand up and be admitted to the Hall of Fame. He shamed his race as did Clemens.
Hey idiot! Clemens is going to be retried! He is out of the Hall of Fame. He is known as scum in the baseball world. And you bring up an issue that has never been settled about the bat. So two white boys got into it. Where is the racism?
Bonds and Clemens are both on the stove now. One black and one white. You brought up the racism. From your reply, it appears you are black. And you want to cover for Bonds. I don’t care what color Bonds or Clemens are. They both Cheated and I never CHEATED. It turns my stomach that people can’t work harder and do their best but have to find ways to demean other people to get ahead. And if you are black, I have news for you. Go check out Urban Prep Academy Charter School in Chicago. For two straight years 100% of the high school graduating class were accepted to 4 year universities. And the Academy has a strict honor code and cheaters are expelled. And you know what? All the graduating seniors are BLACK!
So you see, color doesn’t matter one bit!
Yes there is karma. You do something bad, wrong or break the rules and there is payback. The human body was not made to absorb so much and so many chemicals such as steroids. And their use will affect the body. Some people want that 15 minutes of fame and will put up with diseases and a lessen life span. You see it every day with the idiots who smoke and drink. Alcohol affects the liver. My two grandfathers were drunks and died much younger than they would have normally. My two uncles smoked 2-4 packs a day and lung cancer got them both. And steroids will affect the heart and brain. So yes, Bonds CHEATED and instead of getting a little smarter and enjoying the great success he had, he wanted more and his future will demonstrate what his CHEATING will get him. He already lost his place in the Hall of Fame.
My father was very vulgar and profane, but once in a while, he came out with a truism. How many toilets can you take a crap in at the same time.

That’s quite a rant you left. I’ll ignore the ad hominum attacks and address what merit I can find in your response.

First, baseball players did not make big money until Curt Flood challenged the reserve clause and helped with the fight for free agency in professional sports. (Consider reading “A Well Paid Slave” by Brad Snyder. You might learn something.) In any case, professional ball players have always been using something to get ahead. In the 50s, 60s, and 70s, it was amphetamines to stay awake and alert. I have heard rumors that Babe Ruth used cocaine for the same reasons. In any case, to suggest that ball players from the pre-steroids era were somehow pure and clean ignores history.

Second, like most Americans, I am a free market capitalist. I don’t begrudge the players a penny that they make. Why? Because the vast majority of the owners are making more money than the players. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the leaked Pirates financials — even the perennial doormat Pirates are making money. (And if teams were really losing money, they would open their books for independent examination and would also use the fact that they were losing money to demand concessions from the players like the NBA is doing and the NHL has done.)

Third, you state that “punishment is necessary.” What type of punishment? I think that the criminal sanction is inappropriate. I certainly do not think that Mr. Bonds belongs in jail. And with respect to Mr. Clemens’ retrial, there is no guarantee that is going to happen. The judge has to make a ruling concerning the type of error that the prosecutor made. Consider studying some criminal procedure.

Fourth, you spent a lot of time discussing race but not a lot of time addressing my point, which was that Bonds was vilified in the media before the Mitchell report; Clemens to a lesser degree and only after the Mitchell report came out, notwithstanding the fact that both Clemens and Bonds were doing some extraordinary things very late in their career. Please consider this before you run your mouth again. My race has nothing to do with it.

Goodness, pjmarn — if you have bred, for the world’s sake, I really hope that nurture is stronger than nature.

Is this an appropriate sanction for taking some drugs that enhance performance during a ball game

Geez. How many times do some have to be told he was on trial for lying to a grand jury? Not for taking steroids. It is an appropriate sanction for someone who lies under oath to a grand jury.

the pitchers were juicing too. Don’t give me this “Bonds cheated the pitchers who pitched against him”

There is anecdotal evidence that the hitters benefited more from steroids than the pitchers. One example is how much ERAs have gone down along with HRs since steroids testing. Personally, I believe hitters benefited more. Regardless, both pitchers and hitters who took them were cheaters.

Of course, nobody said anything about what Clemens — a white good old boy from Texas — was doing until the Mitchell report issued. Bonds was vilified as soon as it became clear he was going to break Mark McGuire’s home run record.

Are you kidding? Lots of Mets fans like myself were saying Clemens had roid rage during those incidents with Piazza in 2000, and that he used his DL stint earlier that year to juice up and pump up. However, as much as we were sure that he was juicing then, there was zero hard evidence at the time he was cheating.

As for Bonds, yes he was somewhat vilified during his HR quest, and there were probably elements of racism. But it was also because he was disliked personally by many fans. However the main fault of your argument is suggesting that there was no reason to vilify him before the Mitchel report. Are you serious? Do you have blinders on? BALCO, many years before the Mitchel report, pretty much put the nails in Bond’s coffin regarding steroids as there was tons of information that came out from 2003 on implicating him. Don’t turn it into a race issue when it isn’t there.

Your narrative seems to be highly flawed. Your also saying that there was no criticism of Clemens after the Mitchel report is out of fairyland. He was destroyed in the months following the issuance of that report. He could barely show his face in public afterward, and hasn’t been the same since. He’s more of a disgrace and a joke among baseball fans now than the HOF-inducted pitcher he would have been had he played clean.

Finally, your criticizing someone using all caps SPARINGLY just detracts from your overall argument. Because it’s petty, especially in light of the fact that many don’t know HTML tags, and using all caps is a faster way to emphasize text than using tags. Yeah, I’ll admit I use all caps (sparingly) but I also use html sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with all caps as long as someone doesn’t use it for their entire message.

Kevin S. - Aug 30, 2011 at 9:28 AM

Chris, he was responding to pjmarn’s ridiculous claim that it didn’t matter if Bonds actually committed obstruction or not because this was just punishment for cheating.

chrisny3 - Aug 30, 2011 at 8:46 PM

Kevin:

1) In the comment ftbramwell was responding to, pjmarn6 never actually says it doesn’t matter if Bonds did what he was convicted of doing. He merely makes an emotional argument that Bonds is a bad boy for cheating the game and should be punished for that. He doesn’t explicitly put it in the context of the law or his recent conviction.

2) Even if that was what pjmarn6 was explicitly attempting to say, that doesn’t give ftbramwell the liberty to make some ridiculous claims of his own when replying to him. Such as wondering why there was outrage over Bonds BEFORE the Mitchell report, completely ignoring the whole BALCO incident which was actually the BASIS of Bond’s current conviction. And bringing up the race card in regards to that. Or, saying the conviction was due to taking steroids and conveniently ignoring the fact it was for lying/misleading a grand jury. It was those ridiculous claims I was replying to. And there were others I didn’t even touch on. Such as the faulty notion that steroids were equivalent to doing greenies. The issues I brought up in my initial reply to ftbramwell were the ones that simply jumped out at me initially when I read his posts. But there were others as well.

aaronmoreno - Aug 27, 2011 at 2:12 PM

Also, CHEATING is different from breaking the law. You don’t get prison time for violating the rules of a professional sport.

Actually, the headline is outright wrong. This was a reconsideration, not an appeal. Same judge, same court, etc. as the trial was held. The appeal (as you noted) comes next, in a different court, with a panel of appellate judges.

Why does this matter? Because if Judge Illston had overturned the jury’s verdict (which she does have the power to do) she would be overturning a Jury verdict. Judges are wary to do so, unless the jury got something *completely* wrong, because it is viewed as taking justice away from the people.

We have a system for appellate review, and Bonds’ case will follow that path. Today’s ruling says virtually nothing about whether the verdict will get overturned by the appellate court.

As for cheating…..all the players that took cocaine in the 70’s and 80’s cheated.

They cheated their teammates out of a quality performance, as these drugs cannot enhance on the field production. They cheated the fans, as they were not truly 100% ready to play each day. And they cheated themselves out of their health and a longer career due to their addiction.

And as I have posted before, they cheated me through guilt by association in interviews post-business school.

If not answering a question quickly is a crime, I expect every member of Congress to be jailed before Hurricane Irene passes town.

You’re right, but I think they wanted to get him on something. It is similar to what Judge Perry did to Anthony. He found her guilty on the four counts of lying to the police. Of course the four instances if taking separately had varying degrees of seriousness. Lying where she worked was not as serious as lying as to when her daughter went missing. The work issue could have been a suspended sentence but he wanted to get her so he gave her a year on all four counts.
Probably something like that happened here. They wanted something and found that issue. It probably will get thrown out.

ftbramwell I know this will not have any effect on you, but I will throw it in anyhow. It was used on me many, years ago and it did have an effect on me. What effect will Barry Bonds have as a CHEATER and DRUG USER on his status as a ROLE MODEL for the youth?
He is in effect saying to all the young people, lie, cheat and don’t play by the rules to get ahead! SEE, I did that and I earned millions!

Kevin, I made my kids work for their allowance, and when my son wanted a business, I made him pay me rent for a store that I rented him and pay me a share of the profits. I set him up in business and taught him everything how to make money and that included number one never to cheat a customer and to immediately satisfy a customer complaint in favor of the customer. I brought him to the distributors, taught him how to buy, treat the sales people, advertise, product mix, and to listen to the customers as to what they wanted to buy and to do what was necessary to get the customer to come back and spend more money. We lived in a foreign country, corrupt as hell. The first year, as a 19 year old, he made $80,000 U.S. And we never cheated or stole from one customer and the business was success from the first day we opened it. Our competition just dried up and went out of business. I along with other parents started the American School, where we lived and as I multiply university degrees was very involved in setting it up. We chose the principal and teachers, raised funds and built the buildings and set the standards for the school and students. Every student that wanted to go to college got in.
I helped my children with the hard school work and taught them how to get ahead in life, honestly and I can proudly tell you that both my children have sterling recommendations as people and their businesses have flawless reputations. You can tell me nothing how to be a parent. We as a family set up the first animal shelter and never charged the people we helped adopt the animals and we had an open house for my children’s friends who had personal problems in their homes. We took children of friends, maids, cooks, housemen and put them in school and helped them set up businesses MY WAY, the honest way.
However, my parents were low class honest immigrants and I had to fight to make my way. Both parents worked and I was a latchkey child and in 1940s-1950s, the only entertainment in the two room apartment was the radio and then a small tv and then in the summer there was baseball and my roll models were on tv and they were Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Bobby Richardson etc. So don’t tell me about being a parent or roll models. It sounds like you had a privileged life, given everything you wanted and spoiled rotten, that you accept the likes of Bonds.

Kevin S. - Aug 28, 2011 at 8:00 PM

You mean the boozing, womanizing, self-destructive greenie-popping Mickey Mantle was the role model for your kids? I’m guessing he wasn’t where your kids learned right and wrong. I also love how you accused me of making assumptions about you (no) and then you went right ahead and made blatant assumptions about me. How’s the hypocrisy tasting?

Barry Bonds is not a role model. He is not paid to be a role model. He is paid to hit a baseball and to entertain, not to raise children.

You did make one comment that warrants a reply: “[h]e is in effect saying to all the young people, [sic] lie, cheat and don’t play by the rules to get ahead! SEE, I did that and I earned millions!” Fortunately or unfortunately we live in a society where people who break the rules can receive financial rewards. Happens in sports and other businesses. (Yes, that’s right, I called it like it is; sports is a business first and last.) For every Ken Lay that gets caught, there are several who are living off ill gotten gains. That is a fact of life. But there are also people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates (or in baseball, the Ken Griffeys and Jim Thomes) — people who worked hard, played by the rules, and have done very well for themselves.

I hope that you tell your grandchildren about the Buffets of the world. (Statistically speaking, they will make their living in business before making their living in sports.) You seem to have quite an obsession with me; you called me out in three posts. I hope that you gain some perspective and maturity.

You proved my point today’s society, especially you included is corrupt. You sit back and expect to be entertained by corrupt cheating people. Then you can’t complain about big business and the baseball owners. They are all in it. And you really enjoy WWW.
Of course they live off ill gotten gains, just like you. You want to see cheating and you pay these idiots to abuse their bodies so you can see irrelevant records and games. The people and the teams that can juice up the most and cheat the most give you the biggest thrill.
You are probably for the legalization of drugs. Can’t wait to see you howl and sue when a juiced up idiot forgets a piece in your new car.
Unlike Bonds, Gates and Buffet gave something to the country, It is called jobs. They started with nothing and made industries that provided millions of people the money to waste on your drug induced heroes. B.T.. Barnum was right, there is a sucker born every minute and you and Bonds and Clemens found them.
I know more about Buffet and Gates than you will ever forget. But you want to idolize Bonds. Know what if you take Bonds’ personality and desire to cheat and defraud people and put his personality in Buffet and Gates. Would that make you happy?
And yes Bonds is a role model. Way back before you were born and schools were honorable institutions run by local school boards who had an interest in turning out intelligent, educated, moral and honest students, I remember we had social science classes on what the different races contributed to American society and ROLE MODELS! People living and dead that had/have a POSITIVE INFLUENCE on American society. And of course the ones that were in the newspaper on radio and tv got the most notice. And at that time, it was Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Ted Williams, Wille Mays, General Eisenhower, etc. And ball players were up there as they played hard, and were important to most boys. I do not remember a boy in my class that did not play in Little League or who did not want to play in the major leagues. So yes ball players were right up there as roll models.
And your drug induced Bonds would not be allowed to be discussed as a positive roll model as he cheated and you helped him by paying for these ridiculous salaries. So go out and tell your children, you know what? “GO OUT AND CHEAT, STEAL AND MISREPRESENT AND YOU WILL MAKE YOUR FORTUNE!” That is probably how you run your business or how you act in the work place.

I am, in fact, for the legalization of drugs. If you study history, you’ll understand prohibition doesn’t work. And putting people in jail for smoking pot is a real waste of resources. (BTW, nice red-herring re: “a piece in [my] new car.” One of the things legalization of drugs would do would get rid of the criminal element. See, e.g. Al Capone. And if I were to let someone in my car and that person leaves what you call a “piece”, on what grounds would I sue? Do you even think before you type?) But my take on the legalization of drugs has nothing to do with the discussion we were having.

There is a huge difference between the WWE and major league baseball: the WWE has a script and baseball does not. That is, WWE is truly fake and baseball is not. And in case you are not aware, steroids do not help a player hit a round ball with a round bat; nor do they help a pitcher find the strike zone. Consider all of the mediocre players who used steroids who remained . . . mediocre!

It sounds like you long for the so-called good old days of June Cleaver and Mickey Mantle. (BTW, Mickey Mantle was a drunk and a womanizer; would he have been lionized as a role model in your limited world view?) Far be it from me to criticize anyone’s consumption choice, but if that is your preference, why follow the modern game? The remainder of your rant is so unintelligible that I cannot respond to it. For example, you state that “I know more about Buffet and Gates than you will ever forget.” What does that mean? In reality, I have forgotten more about business — including the business of sports — than you will ever know. Given your continual resort to ad hominum statements, I don’t know if I can continue to engage in this battle of wits as you are obviously an unarmed person.

It saddens but doesn’t surprise me that so many people want to see cheaters in baseball and believe that these cheaters should be role models for their children. The more I see of today’s children and parents, the more, I see the corrupt influences taking over today’s society. And if you ignorant people don’t accept that these idiots are having a harmful influence on your children, then you are bad parents and/or don’t give a damn about your kids or how they run wild. They get together and talk among themselves saying “See, that is the way to do things, look at Bonds, he juiced up got the records, made millions of dollars, didn’t have to go to school or work, hey man, he just played some ball, high as a kite!” And they get high as a kite, get some good dope and go out and rob a liquor store.

This is a very well thought out post. I’ll give it a thumbs up. You’re absolutely right that parents should not teach their children to idolize ball players. Growing up, I loved Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden. Those guys came up with hall of fame talent. But then I saw them waste all of their talent by refusing to work hard.

Fortunately, I had real role models — my parents (quite accomplished people in their own right) introduced me to judges, doctors, and nobel laureates. I came very quickly to understand that I shouldn’t look to athletes as role models. Even though I was an accomplished high school athlete in my own right, I was never going to go pro or make money from sports. Other kids — if they are properly taught — can reach the same conclusion. Slapping Barry Bonds with a felony conviction is just unnecessary.

ftbramwell, for all your bragging about your great parents, hanging out with doctors, judges and noble laureates, I do not believe you. You are too morally bankrupt. You are just trying by lying to bolster your ideals of cheating is morally correct and taking drugs is acceptable. Very few doctors are going to accept what illegal drugs do to the body. You will always find some who will accept it. As you will find corrupt judges on the take as the judge who sentenced thousands of children to reform school to get kickbacks. Nobel Laureates, have a higher road to take and they can’t cheat. Their work is proven by independent scientists and usually they are awarded the prize years after their work has stood the test of time. But you are a misfit. One of the dregs of society.

clydeserra, review the full sentence that Judge Perry gave Anthony. He gave her FOUR CONSECUTIVE ONE YEAR SENTENCES. Now usually they give the sentences concurrently. Also these sentences were the maximum sentences. One of the lies she told police was she was working at a film studio. She was not. That lie was minimal. It was revealed that in an hour it was proven she was not working. And it had little impact on the murder case. When, where and how long she worked 3 years ago could have little impact on the murder if it happened. BUT, she lied as to where the daughter had been the day she disappeared and who had the daughter and how long the daughter had been missing. Now that statement did deserve the maximum sentence.
The job lie maybe would be worth a 30 day suspended jail sentence. The other lie, yes the full year. But I looked very carefully at Judge Perry and when he read the sentences, and you can go back and view the sentence and his face, not once did he look at Anthony, he wanted her to understand and he wanted to read exactly what he had planned out for her with no misunderstanding. He was giving her the maximum on each of the counts even though the counts had unequal weight.

And what if your father would have been a drunk and didn’t show up for days and when he did show up, ate and left the house and never talked to you and you lived in a two room house? What if your mother had been on a continuous mental breakdown and never talked to you and you lived in a pigsty? How would you have turned out? Come on loud mouth, would you have been able to make your own way through college and been a success? You had good examples of cheaters, judges, doctors, and nobel laureates. I am sure they and your parents taught you very well that it is not hard work and being educated that makes you a success in life, but that cheating, boozing and taking drugs will always insure your success. You must be a great role model for your children.

Is that what happened to you? Your daddy drink a little too much and womanize a little too much? Look, wise guy, no one makes it alone in this world. There is no such thing as a guy who pulls himself up by his bootstraps without a little bit of help.

Again, I’m not going to respond to the ad hominums except to say that I can buy you, sell you at a loss, and not notice it.

“Son, we live in a world that has outfield walls, and those walls have to be breached by men with bats. Who’s gonna do it? You? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep and you curse the steroids. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That while tragic, steroids probably saved baseball. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, helped save the game. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me to clear that wall, you need me at the plate. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very entertainment that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a glove, get on the mound and stand opposed. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to. “

What BULL Sh*T. That was a self serving statement. Baseball was never in danger. If 10% of what he said was true, now that the game is monitored against steroids, it should be in the garbage can with attendance down and salaries tanking. It has never had higher attendance and bigger salaries. Baseball has demonstrated that it doesn’t need Bonds or McGwire at the plate. It doesn’t need Clemens on the mound.
Major League Baseball turned into a WWW with chair throwing and schools to teach players how to ACT on and off the field. You do know that in order to get on WWW you have to go to their school on fake wrestling and pass the courses to be able to be picked to get on television and steroids are a definite part of the course?
That is how this era of baseball will be known and it is as phony as it gets. It has cheapened the Hall Of Fame and all the records of the presteroid era. Someone is going to have to sit down and figure out how they are going to separate these two eras out and preserve the honest history of the game. You can’t have Barry Bonds bate next to Maris’ and Bond’s statistics next to Willie Mays. Hey I know what. YOU DO IT!. You go out and ask all the players, “DID YOU CHEAT AND USE STEROIDS?” And when you get the answers you fire up your trusty computer and erase all his records and notch up all the hitters and pitchers he played against and work out the new numbers and YOU PRESENT THE REAL RECORDS TO THE HALL OF FAME. You got a big mouth and want these people to keep all the money and records they cheated for and won so you do the work and you find out the difference.
But I guarantee when you come into one of my stores or businesses, you are going to want the best and most honest deal from me! And you are not going to take any sh*t from me if I don’t honor the guarantee for the product to you. You sure as hell are not going to want a Bonds from me and screw you on the price or guarantee!

Once again, Maris isn’t in the hall of fame. And baseball absolutely did need McGuire and Sosa and the 1998 Yankees to recover from a crippling labor strike that canceled the World Series. While the game may not need them now, it certainly needed them then. Please learn some history.

browngoat25 - Aug 27, 2011 at 10:10 PM

Sorry I am a little late to this party – I have been helping family and neighbors batten down the hatches.

I believe that Major League Baseball would abosolutely love it for Bonds and the word “guilty” be associated, because it would get them off the hook for not implementing a steroid policy sooner.

I have come to the point where I think of steroid users as similar to spit ballers; when the the spit ball was finally outlawed, certain pitchers were allowed to conitnue to use the spit ball. These 17 guys were grandfathered in, and allowed to throw a pitch that if anyone else threw, they would be subject to sanctions (ejection fines, etc). A few even made it to the Hall of Fame (Red Faber and Burleigh Grimes off the top of my head).

So, I am grandfathering in anyone who didnt fail a drug test with enforceable penalties. I can rationalize giving a pass to anyone who was using or I think was using before MLB started enforcing a steroid policy. The Baseball writers can moralize over all the Hall of Fame candidates, but for me, Bonds and Clemens are okay to be in the same Hall as Ty Cobb and Rabbit Marranville. I am tired of the specualtion of “Did he or Didn’t he?” I would rather talk about “Is he or Isnt he?”

I knew you would be for legalization for drugs. I can’t wait for you sh*t bricks when you are worrying about the pilot of your airplane being on marijuana. Or you look in the rear view mirror and see that 18 wheeler crawling up your ass and you wondering how zonked out he may be. And I KNOW you want your next new car to be made on an assembly line of spaced out punks.
I just want to see you going down I-95 at 89 mph when your brakes fail!
What an ass h*le. Whatever you do don’t read or think. Never read an article on the effects of marijuana, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines on the human body. And since you have probably used this junk, you can get some for your children’s teachers and sit with them and get high. Then you can wait and see how your children get high and mentally deficient through the use of these drugs. I had two grandfathers who were drunks. One died in his forties and one died before he was 70. One was so drunk, he didn’t know he had gangrene and the other had cirrhosis of the liver. Had two uncles who smoked 2-4 packs a day, both died of lung cancer. YEA FTBRAMWELL, you know it all, help the poor sods get drunk and pass the cancer sticks and if that doesn’t kill them or drive them out of their minds put them on marijuana, heroin or cocaine. HEY ftbramwell, you ever spend some time around a man with gangrene? That odor ain’t piss. Its the flesh purifying. Picking up a drunk overweight swearing old man every day as he stumbles in the door or down the stairs is your idea of fun? Hell according to you, it was the best idea in the world to let these stumble bums, get drunk every day. Or maybe you want to wait in the hospital and hear the surgeon say, they just sewed the guy up as the lung cancer had metastasized. I watched my uncle light up a cigarette he begged off his wife just before he died. His words were, it can’t affect me now anyhow.
So you want a nation of drug addicts and cheaters. From your posts it figures.
Ftbramwell, it would be nice to hold a conversation with someone intelligent who could understand English or could read. Piece refers to a piece such as a ball bearing, an o ring, a screw. Some small but important part that should be present and is not or is added by accident.
Before the season has started there is a script. What an idiot. There are favorites and there are money issues and there are owners who know damn well, how their teams are going to fare. The Tampa Bay Team knows their role and how they are going to have to play and the Washington Nationals know that they are not going to get near a pennant. And the Yankees and Boston know they are going to fight it out.
And if you didn’t KNOW that Alex Rodriquez was going to wind up a Yankee and that the Rangers were incredibly stupid to sign him to a $250,000,000 contract, then you have been smoking the wrong marijuana. Even I knew back in the fifties that the Yankees were out buying talent and the K.C. Athletics were a glorified farm team for the Yankees. And Roger Maris’ bat is in Coopertown although he as a player is not.
And Curt Flood did not change free agency, his appeal was rejected by the Supreme/Federal Court. It was the Yankee pitcher that broke it and started the bidding war. Steinbrenner got too big for his britches.
If you ever take the time to read Mickey Mantle’s biography, his father forced him to marry his high school sweet heart. He had a woman in New York City he wanted to marry. But he was scared to death of his father and obeyed him. He and his wife were separated for 15 years. He was a child in a man’s body and lost his guidance when his father died. He never took care of his body and never recovered from the drain cover injury which happened the last year DiMaggio played. He roomed with Billy Martin who instead of taking care of Mantle, taught him how to drink and go out on the town. Hell had Mantle not ruined his knee or been allowed to marry his NYC gal, Bonds would have never broken the home run record, Mantle would have set.
Assh*le when you have had to chase kidnappers down a beach at night, fight your way off a boat in the middle of ocean with three people trying to kill you, live in several different cultures in this world, make a success, attend 4 different universities and object to the sh*t that you want to pollute this world, then you can criticize me. Yes I would have liked a June Cleaver mother, an idealized Mickey Mantle, I lived 7 miles from Yogi Berra in Montclair, New Jersey, but had the graces, never to knock on his door and bother him. But you are what is wrong with this country. Condone cheating, legalize drugs, allow the corruption to fester, rant and rave about allowing marginal people steal millions because they have a little eye/hand coordination.
I don’t see you starting a tremendous school for ghetto children. I don’t see you advocating that famous/infamous people should be role models for today’s youth. I don’t see anything you said that is worthy of repeating to anyone. Just some trash that blew in the door.

Forgive me, I’m for personal choice and personal responsibility. Someone wants to put poison in their bodies, let them. It’s no skin off my nose. But I don’t believe in legislating morality; I’m not a fascist. There’s a difference between wanting a nation full of drug abusers and stating the cold hard facts that (i) drugs have won the drug war and (ii) criminalizing drugs has done more harm to society than good. Funny how you say that you have gone to four universities. Sarah Palin went to seven. Looks like neither one of you learned anything there.

Funny you should mention the possibility of a pilot or a truck driver incapacitated by drugs. See, there is a product out there called alcohol, it’s completely legal, and can do just as good a job at incapacitating someone as marijuana. So unless you want to go back to the bad old days of prohibition I suggest you drop this one.

I’ll again ignore the ad hominums. You should stop them, you’re embarrassing yourself. So sorry to hear about your unfortunate family situation. Perhaps if you let go of some of the bitterness you can lead a happier life.